Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Dobie

sammy_kaye18 wrote:

Hi All,

Ok a few questions

Just found out the house im moving into has prepay card scheme where i go and swipe it, put on £5 and when it runs out i do the same but i dont know if it will leave me in credit or not.

(I've worked for an energy company for 9 years so have some understanding of how these work).
There are pros & cons to having a prepayment meter. The big advantage is that you 'pay as you go' so don't have a bill to pay & it's a way of learning VERY quickly where your money's going. Many people find them a really good way of reducing their bills because you start to think 'if I put the TD on I'll have to get more leccy' so they use the airer instead.
The disadvantage is that you'll need to put more into the meter in the winter & less in the summer so you have to budget for that & also Carrottopsuk is right that they can be more expensive. That depends on your supplier. I'd give them a ring & ask to speak with someone who can advise you about the cost.
If you have a good payment history at your current property & the supplier is the same at both houses they'll almost certainly agree to swap it for a credit meter for you if that's what you want.

IanBroadhurst

We've been following this thread for some time as did a major drive last year following the birth of our daughter to try and winter proof the house. I still think there are things we can do, the house is about 100 yrs old, semi detached. We have 2 open fire places in the lounge and dining room although the central heating has only been installed in the past 5 years it was done by the previous owner and its quality - along with other things in the house is questionable.

Anyway some of the things we did for Winter Proofing as follows:

We installed key lock covers to stop the draft coming through the key holes.
Heavy curtains over all external doors and windows.
We have secondary glazing in the upstair windows
Sausage dog draft excluder on front door
energy saving lightbulbs throughout
We attached a blanket to the underside of the loft hatch to stop all the warm air going into the loft and prevent any cold coming down.
We built a door way and installed a door in our hallway to stop the cold air going upstairs.
The water comes on morning and night only 7 days a week.
We don't use the central heating unless its really neccessary - preferring to use the open fires.
We installed a greenhouse this year - one side we grow our veg the other side we dry our paper bricks.
Curtains and blinds get shut before it gets dark.


Some things we plan to before winter sets in this year;

I am going to make something to put in front of the chimneys when not in use - we loose alot of heat - or get alot of breeze despite them having pots!
I still want to put up blinds on several other windows in the house - on the rooms we have them - the combination of blinds and windows is pretty impressive - despite having aged wooden windows!
I also need to make another sausage dog for the back door.

Does anyone know if you can get draft excluders for cat flaps??

Since reading this post we now switch of lights in rooms we are not in.
We don't overfill the kettle
we wash clothes at 30 degrees
I boil the kettle for water I need on the hob
I keep the fridge and freezer well stocked - even if its bottles filled with tap water -
I regularly defrost my freezer

And much to the shock of my family - I am looking at getting a new microwave - I binned mine about 4 years ago as I thought it was a bad way to cook food and ever since I have used the hob and oven. But as the prices increase I cannot justify baking potatoes in the oven for an hour - when they can be cooked in the microwave within 10 mins and on the table. Also heating baked beans etc.

So there's my input - we're getting there and we're going to try and see how long we can go without using the central heating. Our little girl is 1 yr now and a little bit hardy compared to new born status next year!

ian & debs

joannasmum

Just a heads up that Aldi have Thermo fleece blanket in for £4.99 from today (Sun Oct 1st). We got a child size one of these last year and its brillant very warm useful for the couch or as an extra layer on the bed when its cold.

carrottopsuk

IanBroadhurst wrote:

I keep the fridge and freezer well stocked - even if its bottles filled with tap water -
I regularly defrost my freezer

ian & debs

Firstly thanks Ian for all your suggestions!!! It's very inspriring.

However, I just wanted to check one thing that you've written (apologies if I've misunderstood), I'm sure I've read on here somewhere that you fill freezers completely to save energy but you try where possible not to overfill your fridge to allow the air in the fridge to circulate.

Can anyone confirm this??

Thanks

ViksB

Yes thats correct you should never over fill your fridge as it stops the sir circulating and means that the food isn't kept properly cool. The freezer on the other hand should be full.

Viks

roswell

A few tips that may have been mentioned already,

replace missing / damaged silicon around windows, if you have single glazing silicon between the beeding and glass, get cavity wall insulation through council grants / energy supplier grant. put loft insulation on the top of your loft hatch, add new loft insulation to the new reg of 300 mm.

get draft excluding sticky foam rolls from wilkinsons to draft proof internal doors, wilkies also see sausage dog type draft excluders for £1.

check the outside of your house for any gaps between waste pipes and wall and fill with silicon or similar to stop drafts.

newleaf

If anyone is still looking for nice throws to snuggle up on the sofa with, I got one of these here
last year and it's lovely, really soft and good quality. It's faux suede on one side and a curly, poodly faux fur on the other. I've just ordered another as they are now BOGOF, which seems like a jolly good bargain to me. They would also make nice Christmas presents. Delivery is £4.95 so they work out at £7.50 each if you get two for £9.99.

mirry

was just watching gmtv , apparently our fuel suppliers are getting the gas and electric really cheap from abroud !
They said they will be passing the new costs onto the customer in 6 - 9 months time (in summer) :mad: .

Does anyone feel the cold already ?
I awoke this morning feeling chilly, just put on my thick dressing gown and am wondering how long I will be able to hold out ?,lol.

carrottopsuk

mirry wrote:

was just watching gmtv , apparently our fuel suppliers are getting the gas and electric really cheap from abroud !
They said they will be passing the new costs onto the customer in 6 - 9 months time (in summer) :mad: .

Does anyone feel the cold already ?
I awoke this morning feeling chilly, just put on my thick dressing gown and am wondering how long I will be able to hold out ?,lol.

I saw this about a week ago. The reason behind the high fuel bills until then is because they had already bought the fuel for this winter at inflated costs so they need to get their money back.

There is a new fuel line coming from a Scandinavian country I think that will mean cheaper bills in the long term though.

Imelda

Morning all,

mirry, I was cold this morning too, so tempting to put the heating on! I WILL hold out until November though.

I have been doing quite well, I have been switching my water heater off every morning before I leave for work (I am on economy 7 so it comes on at midnight and I switch it off at 6am, the water is still hot in the evening), only using a lamp in my lounge (can't have energy saving bulbs in my main light), washing my clothes on 30 (during economy 7 period) and using a mixture of washing powder and soda crystals. I am hoping to get through the winter only paying £25 per month for my electricity (I have an extra £75 set aside just in case). Also, new tip, I am staying at my OH's flat most weekends, free heating and hot water!